Neuropsychological dysfunctions in children and adolescents with type I diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM1) is a common chronic disease during childhood or early adulthood. Among
its multiple disruptive effects on CNS, diabetic encephalopathy, may present itself by electrophysiological
and structural changes, impairment of cognitive functions and mood disorders. Lower performance on
neuropsychological tests (>1 SD from the mean performance) is a significant marker of cognitive impairment. The key variables that impact on cognitive outcome are age of disease onset, duration (chronicity
of effects), hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia, and, in lesser extent, demographic and psychosocial factors. In
this paper, we review the literature on neuropsychological dysfunction in young patients with diabetes and
summarize the extent to which diabetes-associated factors may affect cognitive functions.